It was at the end of April and the season was over. But elite athletes get no vacation from doping testers.
They came and knocked on the door and you do a regular urine test and blood test with a needle in the arm. It's the same thing they do at the hospital, thousands of tests every day. It was just bad luck that some crap came in, it started a blood infection, says Jesper Nelin in connection with the national team's press conference in Idre.
It took a few days before Nelin, who was part of the Swedish relay team that took gold at the World Championship in the spring, realized that something was wrong with his arm where the vein started to turn black. It was his dad, who is a doctor, who understood what needed to be done and administered penicillin.
The penicillin took effect immediately, but I was a bit down afterwards, says Nelin.
I was pretty slow and laid low at the beginning of the preseason. My body was not in balance. But I've been completely okay for a while now.
"Can do it again"
Nelin took his first individual podium spot in the World Cup at the end of the season, a third place in the mass start in Oslo. It gave him an important receipt.
It was very nice, I feel that now I can do it again.
With improved self-confidence from the podium spot and hopefully improved shooting, he hopes to be able to take further steps in the winter.
With a completely self-built roller ski track, the next step will be taken, although probably not until next season. Because the track is not fully finished and he has not been able to use it more than a few times this fall.
Learned to weld
Sebastian Samuelsson has a roller ski track that can be used for roller skiing and that Nelin has been able to train on occasionally. And he is completely sold.
It gives the best training sessions. You can have very good control over speed and incline and it becomes an uphill climb all the time and you get no rest.
Samuelsson's roller ski track cost 1.3 million kronor to buy. Nelin's will of course be much cheaper since he built it himself. Everything from drawing, learning to weld the construction together, to doing all the electronics and programming himself.
Moreover, the roller ski track is portable, it stands in a trailer.
So I thought that I can back it up at the stadium (in Östersund) so I can also shoot during the passes on the track. That's the goal for next year.
